American Society of Primatologists Conference 2015

I just returned from the annual conference of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP), which was held in beautiful Bend, Oregon.






Although I arrived a day late due to horrific travel delays, what's most important is that I did finally arrive.

I was speaking as part of a symposium entitled "The Advancement of the Modern Primate Sanctuary and the Growth of Collaborative Opportunities."



My presentation, "The History of Primate Sanctuaries in the United States" kicked off the symposium and led the way for my colleagues to also present on various related topics.



Due to the ASP's tendency to be very much dominated by the opinions and interests of primate researchers, sanctuaries have historically not had the smoothest welcome into the organization. This year, though, we were pleasantly surprised that the attendees of our symposium seemed honestly interested in what we had to say - and we had a packed house. It was standing room only!



The next day I was fortunate to get a private tour of NAPSA member sanctuary Chimps Inc, home of seven chimps, two lynx and.... a miniature horse named Oreo.

I loved him - even if he did try to nibble on my finger right after this picture was taken.



I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Chimps Inc for the first time, and to meet some well-respected primatologists at the conference. Hopefully we have opened some minds to the option of retiring lab primates to sanctuary instead of them having to face euthanasia or the prospect of spending more years in laboratory life. Feedback to our symposium was promising, to be sure.

It's hard to believe that it was less than 2 years ago that I attended The Great Ape Summit, knowing nobody. Things have changed a lot, and I am ever so grateful.

Pant-hoots to that!

NYT + CNN = media explosion!

Yes, it's true I haven't posted anything on this blog since January - but for good reason. My work with the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance is thrilling and wonderful and chock-full of responsibilities that take up most of my time.

Today it was imperative that I post, however, because I have great news to share!

On Friday the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a long-awaited end to the split-listing of chimpanzees under the Endangered Species Act. You can read more about this on NAPSA's statement on the topic.

During the buzz before the announcement actually occurred, I was contacted by the New York Times for an interview. It was published online Friday, June 12th and in print on Saturday, June 13th.

It wasn't over yet...

Saturday afternoon CNN requested that I be interviewed live via Skype later that evening. I was able to gather some talking points, with the help of a few trusted advisors and coworkers, and am pleased to say that the interview went quite well! You can view it on CNN's website.

As a result, these stories have been shared throughout international media, which has led to some very interesting and humorous translation related mis-quotes. 

Being so heavily involved in the progress for increased protections for nonhuman primates is a wonderful, wonderful thing and I am honored to be doing this.